Patients' health and welfare at a Dublin hospital were put at "serious risk" as a result of poor hygiene practice, a health watchdog has claimed.

An unannounced spot check in Beaumont Hospital by Health Information and Quality Authority had found that most doctors failed to wash their hands or change aprons after finishing with one patient and moving on to another.

Sterile equipment and clean hand towels were also stored in a dirty utility room, the organisation said, as well as overflowing clinical bins.

In the report, HIQA said: "Hand hygiene is recognised internationally as the single most important preventative measure in the transmission of HCAIs in healthcare services.

"It is essential that a culture of hand hygiene practice is embedded in every service at all levels.

"Hand hygiene practice and standard precautions for prevention and control of HCAI were not operationally embedded, posing a risk to patients in Beaumont Hospital."